


Meat

by clio_jlh



Category: The Beatles
Genre: Band Fic, Camping, Chivalry, Community: schmoop_bingo, Friendship, Gen, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Musicians, RPF, Sister-Sister Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-14
Updated: 2011-03-14
Packaged: 2017-10-16 23:29:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/170533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clio_jlh/pseuds/clio_jlh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just because Ringo wants to eat something other than lentils doesn't mean he can't act as a gentleman should.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meat

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://glockgal.dreamwidth.org/profile)[](http://glockgal.dreamwidth.org/)**glockgal** 's drabble/drawble fest, though more a ficlet than a drabble. She asked for Beatles, and gave me Parvati/Pansy. A far more than even trade.  
> Set during their period at Rishikesh, and inspired by a line in the documentary _The Compleat Beatles_ (which I watched endlessly as a teen): "Besides, Ringo didn't like the food."

Ringo didn’t think much of the eating off the floor concept. Well, not the floor exactly—there was a clean cloth on the space between them. Ringo liked picnics fine, but not eight solid days of them. He stared at the mess of beans dubiously. “I’m not eating this.”

“They’re just lentils,” Paul said, rolling his eyes. “Lentils and rice, nothing you haven’t eaten before.”

“The rice has cinnamon sticks in,” Ringo said, “and weird green pods.”

“Well, there isn’t anything else,” John said, “so you might as well.” This wasn’t strictly true—there was some sort of stewed spinach, but Ringo didn’t even like English spinach so Indian spinach was a definite no-go.

Ringo sighed and looked over at George, then immediately realized he shouldn’t have, because George could get to Ringo faster with a look than Paul could with hours of bossiness, and right now he looked downright mournful. It had been mostly his idea to come in the first place, but the idea of the retreat and its reality weren’t the same thing at all. Ringo figured the least he could do was stop complaining about lentils. He took a scoop of lentils and one of rice—carefully avoiding any foreign objects—and started eating.

George smiled, so that was something.

“Look who’s come to lunch today,” Mia said, walking toward their circle, her arm around her sister.

“Hey, there she is!” Paul said with a big smile.

Prudence smiled back and sat down between John and Ringo. John slung his arm around her and whispered something in her ear, and she giggled. He’d spent the better part of the day before trying to get her out of her little hut, but she wanted to study; she was even more committed than George, and that was saying something.

Mia sat down across from her, between Paul and George, and seemed just a little jittery as she leaned her head on Paul’s shoulder. Ringo had heard there was something going on with the girls, something that was making John angry, but Paul had said it was probably nothing so he hadn’t thought more about it. But now with Mia looking scared and small, he wondered.

George cleared his throat, and they all looked up at him. He faltered for a moment, then looked Mia in the eye. “I think it’s time to go home, yeah?”

No one replied directly, but there were nods all around, and John looked openly relieved.

“What’ll we tell ‘em?” Paul asked.

Ringo looked around the circle, at George, disappointed, John downright angry, Prudence sad and Paul determined. But Mia still looked nervous, and Ringo, well, he knew to protect girls just as well as anybody else.

“Just say I didn’t like the food,” Ringo said, and was rewarded for his chivalry with a smile from the lady.

**Author's Note:**

> Historical Note: They didn't actually all leave at the same time; I've changed that for the purposes of the story. Also the accusations that prompted John and George to leave turned out to not be entirely true, though they believed them at the time.


End file.
